WASHINGTON: Sudan’s warring generals have agreed to maintain a three-day ceasefire to halt escalating violence in the East African nation, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced Monday.
Blinken said “intense negotiations” led to the agreement between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), led by Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, who is more commonly known as Hemedti.
“During this period, the United States urges the SAF and RSF to immediately and fully uphold the ceasefire,” Anadolu Agency reported Blinken said in a statement.
“To support a durable end to the fighting, the United States will coordinate with regional and international partners, and Sudanese civilian stakeholders, to assist in the creation of a committee to oversee the negotiation, conclusion, and implementation of a permanent cessation of hostilities and humanitarian arrangements in Sudan,” he added.
The US over the weekend shuttered its embassy in Khartoum and evacuated its staff from the country as violence continued to spiral. Washington is currently exploring options for resuming its diplomatic activity in the country, potentially with a new presence based in the Red Sea city of Port Sudan, the State Department said earlier Monday, according to the report.
At least 413 people have been killed and 3,551 others injured since April 15 when conflict broke out in the capital Khartoum and other cities between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the RSF, which the military had declared a rebel group.
Disagreement had been fomenting in recent months between the army and RSF over military security reform.
The reform envisages the full participation of the RSF in the military, one of the main issues in the negotiation process carried out by international and regional parties for the transition to civilian and democratic rule in Sudan.
Evacuation
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has evacuated more than 350 people from Sudan, including its own nationals and nationals from 26 countries, as fighting in the capital Khartoum between the Sudanese army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) entered a second week.
A total of 356 evacuees including 101 Saudi nationals arrived in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah, Anadolu Agency reported the Saudi Foreign Ministry said in a statement posted on Twitter on Monday.
Among the evacuees were nationals from the US, the UK, Sweden, Italy, Qatar, Syria, the Netherlands, Iraq, Türkiye, Tanzania, Lebanon and Libya, it said.
”The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will continue its efforts and offer assistance to ensure the safe evacuation of foreign nationals to their destinations,” it added. — BERNAMA-ANADOLU
